Teacher Retirement System of Texas Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,246,776 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 251,636 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.5% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $843,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $502.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $441.19. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,350 shares of company stock worth $14,162,567 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.